deru kugi wa utareru
(the nail that sticks up gets hammered down)
-Japanese proverb
Considering how timely a play about forced incarceration, immigrant stories, and the things we sacrifice in the face of unspeakable trauma in order to survive is, I was surprised to discover that this production of Lee A. Tonouchi's Two Nails, One Love at Kumu Kahua is its world debut. Based on Alden M. Hayashi’s 2021 memoir of the same name, Mr. Tonuchi has lovingly adapted Mr. Hayashi’s story, set in the 2000s, to the stage. The “two nails” in question, Japanese-American son Ethan (Nolan Hong) and mother (Sun Min Chun-Dayondon), are thrust together after a decade of estrangement as Mother flies from Honolulu to visit Ethan for the first time at his home in New York City. Ethan’s anxiety about this visit, including the secret of his sexuality that he has not yet revealed to her, is personified to great and often comedic affect by Reyn Afaga. But as the show progresses, we learn that Mother carries a wealth of secrets herself, allowing for Ethan to see her in a different light and attempt to bridge the gap between them.
The cast makes good use of the thrust stage (design by Michael Harada), and though the production is a bit bare bones, the sound and lighting design (Chelsey LC Yamashiro) does a lot of heavy lifting in providing transitions among different settings and time periods during flashbacks, and a multitude of props (Sarah Ward) help construct the world of the show.
Though I found the script a bit clunky and exposition-heavy at times, Harry Wong III’s direction handles the heavy emotion of the play admirably, and still allows for some surprising (and welcome) light moments, especially between Ethan and Anxious Ethan and in Mother’s loving teasing of her son. As he states in his Director’s Note, the era of Japanese internment in the United States and rampant anti-Japanese racism is not as much a relic of the past as we would like to believe. I was delighted to see Ms. Chun-Dayondon back on stage, after thoroughly enjoying her performance as another mother in Kim’s Convenience at MVT last year. Her portrayal of Ethan’s mother in Two Nails was especially moving in witnessing her internal struggle between maintaining the veneer of respectability and traditional Japanese values and accepting her son for everything he is. Mr. Afaga was also a standout as the Pidgin-speaking embodiment of Ethan’s anxiety, bringing both emotional impact and levity to the show.
Ultimately, this is a show about how our stories shape who we are, and how we far more in common with our family than we sometimes believe. Mr. Hayashi—by way of Mr. Tonouchi—gives us an intimate and personal insight into the human cost of anti-immigrant sentiment, xenophobia, homophobia, and the fear of retribution for speaking one’s truth. I left the theatre feeling sobered, but bolstered by the knowledge and the pride that stories like this have a home in Hawai’i.
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